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    Hairy_Indigo12.jpg
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    Hairy Indigo

    Species: Hairy Indigo
    Scientific Name: Indigofera hirsuta
    Cultivars:
    Growth Habit:Erect (4 to 7 feet). Stems and petioles covered with reddish-brown hairs. Red flowers on dense, long racemes. Produces cube-shaped seeds.
    Life Cycle:Annual
    Origin:Tropical Africa and Asia
    Production Season:April to October
    Nutritive Value:Varies depending on maturity (leaf:stem ratio) Usually medium to high crude protein; medium to high digestibility.
    Use:Hay, silage, cover crop or green manure
    Herbarium Image:For an herbarium image click this link, and this link.

    Adaptation

    Soil:
  • Sand to clay.
  • Moderate to well drained soils, with marginal to low fertility
    		•
    pH:
    Rainfall:
    Temperature:Sensitive to cold. Killed by first hard frost.

    Management

    Planting Date:
  • Middle of March to May/June.
  • Seed in early spring for best results.
  • Late seeding makes for poor growth and poor seed quality.
    		•
    Planting Depth:
    Seeding Rate:
  • 3 to 5lb/acre (if drilled), 6 to 10 lb/acre (if broadcast)
  • Inoculate seed with rhizobium bacteria type 'EL', Cowpea group
    		•
    Seed Cost:
    Fertilization:For fertilization info see following click this link.
    Production:7 to 10 tons of greenchop/acre, equivalent to 90 to 130 lb of N/acre.

    Notes

  • Found throughout Florida's Central Ridge, and in well drained Flatwood sites.
  • Prolific seed producer.
  • High percentage of hard seed.
  • Considered a weed in certain crops, such as Peanut.
  • Resistant to root knot nematodes.
  • Not very palatable to cattle initially.
  • Good foraging habitat for quail.
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